This invention relates to a base for supporting an upright post of a garden umbrella or the like.
Various types of bases for this purpose have been manufactured, for example simple concrete forms and various metal frame structures, all of which serve to support the vertical post for the umbrella with the intention of preventing it tipping when knocked or due to wind forces. These arrangements have the disadvantage that either they are insufficiently stable or they are so heavy that they are difficult to transport.
An alternative arrangement which has been manufactured previously is that of a rotationally molded or blow molded hollow body formed from suitable plastics material which can then be filled with a suitable fluid ballast, for example water through a filler cap. Blow molding requires relatively larger amounts of material to make a particular product and is therefore more expensive than other processes. In addition, even though when the ballast has been removed the support is very light it is also very bulky and therefore remains difficult to transport.